Join the Azalea Outreach/Drop-in team or Flint team

Azalea team: There are between 15 and 20 volunteers who go on outreach, host the Drop-in and support women through befriending. Everyone on the team has undergone a 14-hour training course, filled in an application form and been interviewed. If you are interested in joining the Azalea team we would love to hear from you. Because of the sensitive nature of the work and the need to build up trusting relationships we expect volunteers to commit to at least three years and to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Find out when the next training course is on here. To find out more please email [email protected]

Flint team:Flint is a new project set up by Azalea to reduce demand for prostitution in Luton by working with men. It offers a non-judgemental mentoring programme to help men work through unhealthy sexual addictions and attitudes towards women. We need men and women to volunteer as mentors - you don't need any experience as we will provide the relevant training.Click here for all the details about being involved with Flint and the upcoming training sessions.

Practical Help

Make cakes

We give out a lot of cakes every month through outreach and drop-in, and are always in need of people who love to bake. Although we could go and buy snacks from a supermarket, it is really important to us that we give out home-made cakes because it communicates that someone cared enough to give up their time to make them. Often the women have not eaten and take as many cakes as they can carry with them. If you join the team you will be on a rota that means you shouldn't have to bake more than once a month

Cook home-made ready meals

Thanks to a team of wonderful cooks, we are able to offer women frozen ready meals to eat at the Drop-in or take away with them. Could you russle up a curry, tuna pasta, spaghettie bolognaise, chilli con carne, etc? Demand for these has grown since we moved into the town centre and it is so important to be able to provide hot, nourishing food to women who are homeless or without decent cooking facilities.

Offer administrative support

Administration is crucial to the work of Azalea. There is a huge amount to be managed: information, paperwork, meetings and money. As the work grows and flourishes we need more and more administrators to be involved. If you are able to volunteer your time in any of these areas, we would love to hear from you. For more information, please email [email protected]

Give food

Because of poverty and the effect of drugs on their bodies, the women do not eat regularly. We like to have a cupboard stocked full of food so that when the women come to the drop-in they can take the food they need for the next few days. Please drop off any donations at our office between 8am and 1pm every weekday. Email [email protected] for more information. If you are able to help stock our cupboard these are the items that are most in demand:

Pot noodles

Packets of flavoured noodles

Packets of flavoured pasta

Packets of cuppa soup

Tins (with ring pulls) of soup, beans and spaghetti, fruit

Sweet or savoury rice (dried or tins)

Coffee

Sugar

Cereals

Drinking chocolate

Bottles of squash

Chocolate covered biscuit bars

Biscuits (savoury and sweet)

Sweets

We also have a freezer full of frozen meals, as the women rarely eat home cooked, nutritious food. If you can cook meals on a regular basis, please contact us at [email protected]

Donate clothes

Many of the women we support are homeless and sometimes only have the clothes they are wearing. If they are sent to prison they often don’t have anything else to wear. During the winter they often can’t afford coats. We welcome clothes donations so that when the women come to Drop In they can take the clothes they need. Please drop off any donations at our office between 8.30am and 1pm every weekday. Email [email protected] for more information.

Perhaps you have a specific skill that could be used to serve the women like hairdressing or doing manicures? We are often in need of people who can help with various odd-jobs like shifting furniture or laying a carpet. If you think you could help us in any way do get in touch.

Prayer Support

Prayer completely underpins the work of Azalea, and we know we couldn't get anything done without it.

Every few months we hold a public prayer meeting for Azalea. It is a wonderful time of praise, learning and intercession. Find out all about our prayer events here.

Prayer Net email - sign up here for our weekly email giving you an insight into how to pray for the women and volunteers.

Receive our newsletter

If you would like to receive a regular newsletter telling our supporters what we are doing and how Azalea is developing please email [email protected] with your name, email and postal address.

Download our Fundraising Pack full of great ideas for fun activities or events to raise money. Thousands of pounds have been raised by Azalea supporters - thank you!

Run4Azalea

As Azalea celebrates its 10 year anniversary, we are encouraging people to walk or run a 10K event to raise money for Azalea! This means our annual 5K run won't be happening in 2017. You can find out more about running for Azalea here

From 2011 to 2014 our supporters raised over £10,000 in sponsorship for running the Azalea 5k! We are now inviting people to run in races all over the country, from fun runs to marathons, to raise money. Find a run you would like to do, wherever, however long or short, sign up and let us know. We will provide you with what you need to fundraise. Email [email protected] for more information.